Thursday, January 31, 2013Stewart unsure of his status with Wisco
By Chantel Jennings

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Quarterbacks must be decisive, confident and sure in their moves. It’s a necessity for the position.

Which is why right now is kind of a difficult time for Watch List quarterback Chance Stewart (Sturgis, Mich./Sturgis). The 6-foot-5, 210-pound signal caller was an early commit to former Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema and his staff in August.

But he hasn’t had any communication with the current staff, saying that he has “absolutely no idea” what his status is with Wisconsin or if the offer still stands.

+When coach Gary Andersen took the reigns at Wisconsin, Stewart reached out a few times to no avail before the dead period set in. Stewart’s father attempted to get in touch with the new Wisconsin staff earlier this week again and they haven’t returned his call yet.

Because of that silence, Stewart is stuck in the waiting game.

“I’m waiting to hear back from Wisconsin,” Stewart said. “I’m committed there and I want to honor that. But if that’s not going to work out and they tell me they want to go in a different direction, then I say, ‘Thanks for being honest,’ and I’ll have to figure something else out.”

Like most people, Stewart was caught by surprise when Bielema left for Arkansas, and said that the Arkansas coaching staff hasn’t been in touch with him or tried to recruit him to be a Razorback.

However, Stewart understands that reopening his recruitment is a possibility.

“If something doesn’t happen with Wisconsin, I’ll keep all my options open to see what could happen elsewhere,” Stewart said.

Right now Stewart is playing basketball and working with a private trainer, trying to keep his mind focused on being a better player instead of his indefinite football future, which not too long ago seemed completely secure.

He will compete at the Best of the Midwest quarterback competition in Ohio later this winter and hopes he can get in touch with the Badger staff soon to figure out if he needs to be a part of the camp scene this summer or get in touch with other staffs who were previously recruiting him.

“The whole situation stinks because I really liked Coach Bielema and Coach [Eddie] Faulkner, my recruiter and [offensive coordinator Matt] Canada, I really liked a lot,” Stewart said. “And now they’re all gone. The three main guys that I proved to that I could be a D-I football player are gone...It’s just kind of a hard situation.”